Hunter: Cursed

Chapter Twenty-Four

So ah... This happened tonight. Hope it doesn't suck. xx
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Artemis raised her bow and took the shot. It was an impossible mark, but for the goddess it was as simple as breathing. With a smug smile, she handed her weapon over to me. I didn't like this whole, archery thing. Mum had given up trying to teach me, but Artemis was not my mother and being a billion years old apparently gave you the patience of a saint and the stubbornness of a grounded teenager intensified by infinity.

"Now, you do it." She instructed.

"You know, these days, in this world, we have these things called sniper rifles. You can-"

"Do it." Artemis cut me off, her tone a little more forceful now. "Your weapons do not appeal to me. Even your blade seems so, barbaric."

"Don't talk about my sword that way." I fake being offended, but her lectures on the right choice of weaponry were a new form of a torture. "Okay, how about we make this interesting. If I can hit the target, better than you, we stop all this and take a break?"

"Better?" She laughed, and then signaled for me to go.

These last few weeks, her private lessons had taught me more than I thought I could ever know. A couple of days after my fail of a visit, she and a reluctant Hermes, had come to see me. She'd offered her support, should the time come when even the Powers had to pick sides, she and her sibling would offer their loyalties to Cain. Something happened after they left that night, but Artemis refused to say a word about any of it. Even Hermes was Team Fallen now, and so whatever happened must have have been real bad.

"The arrogance of this one! To think she could best the Huntress and-" Hermes snickering promptly ended as my arrow split through the feather and wood of Artemis's. What I failed to tell them was, I did additional practice with Cain whenever they weren't around so my terrible aim had quickly progressed.

"Okay, so about that break. I was thinking you two could be, I dunno, normal and we could go eat?" I suggested hopefully, my stomach growling in agreement.

"Eat, in your world?" Hermes frowned.

"A deal is a deal Hermes." Artemis sighed, and gave a little nod.

Instantly their robes and fancy toga's vanished and both were dressed in more twenty first century appropriate attire. The training arena Hermes had taken us to vanished and we ended up in the car park at the front of the campus.

"Ah, you sure you two being here is a good idea?" I whispered, looking around cautiously.

"We are very well hidden. Now, how about we go on one of these?" Artemis pointed at Drew's motorbike with wide eyes and a huge grin.

"You've never been on a bike?" I find that hard to believe.

"We don't have them in our world and they weren't in yours the last time we stayed here." Hermes snapped. "I refuse to get on it."

"Of course you do. Well, I'll take you on mine Art. Kill joy over there can just meet us at the restaurant." I decide.

Artemis clicks her fingers and sure enough my bike appears beside us. Excitedly she takes a helmet and just as she goes to put it on, Logan appears at the front door. I can't help cringing, feeling like we've just been caught doing something we shouldn't be doing, which I guess is kind of true. It's then I notice how tired he's looking, and trying to remember the last time we just, chilled and hung out alone, I come up blank. It's been weeks.

"There you are, I thought you were going to be in the library?" He quizzes. Sweat has wet his shirt in a big v on his chest, while his hair is a twisted mess. He's been working hard, absorbing as much of Cain's training as the rest of them, maybe too hard.